1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fire suppression sprinkler systems, more particularly, to sprinkler systems that are relatively easy to install in new construction and to retrofit into existing construction.
2. The Prior Art
Most cities and towns require fire-suppression sprinkler systems in commercial and multi-family residential buildings, and more and more city and town fire codes are requiring fire suppression sprinkler systems to be installed in existing buildings, particularly when they are renovated. And increasing numbers of families, knowing of studies that show that sprinkler systems are effective in prevent injury and death due to fire, are having sprinkler systems installed into new houses and are having existing houses retrofitted. Conventional sprinkler systems are generally unsuited for installation in the typical house, particularly when the house is being retrofitted with a sprinkler system. Conventional sprinkler systems include a rigid, stationary fire-suppression fluid supply grid comprising a plurality of interconnected pipes rigidly supported above the ceiling. A plurality of sprinkler assemblages are connected to the fluid supply grid and have heat-sensitive sprinkler heads that extend through the ceiling into the room being protected.
There are situations when this rigid system is not feasible. For example, most two-story homes do not have enough space between stories to hold pipes supplying fluid to first-floor sprinkler heads. Even some single-floor houses do not have enough attic or crawl space to hold the pipes or to easily access the pipes when they are installed. As a result, the sprinkler heads are mounted high on the walls and fed from a basement grid, with the sprinkler heads being fed by rigid pipes extending inside the walls. When a house is being retrofitted, the walls must be torn out to install the pipes and then rebuilt, a very expensive and inconvenient process. Even in new residential and commercial constructions, the labor costs associated with installing large amounts of rigid pipe in the walls can be prohibitively expensive.
Consequently, there continues to exist a need for a method and the associated equipment to install fire suppression sprinkler systems in new homes and commercial construction and to retrofit existing construction that is convenient and fast relative to existing methods and equipment.